NCW — Washington’s wheat growers are planting their winter crop in the worst conditions some have seen since the 1970s.
These conditions come on the heels of a harvest that’s among the lowest in the same period.
Glenn Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission, said the collective wheat harvest of Washington, Oregon and Idaho this year is the worst since 1977. For Washington, it’s even worse.
“The lack of rain has resulted in this year’s crop being the lowest crop output since 1973 for Washington,” Squires said.
The five-year average for wheat production in Washington is 152 million bushels of wheat. However, this year’s crop is only 93.6 million.
And conditions don’t look any better for next year’s crop.
An early summer heat wave coupled with an ongoing drought left subsoil moisture at 99% either short or very short in the state and forced wheat farmers to make a decision this fall, Squires said. They could either plant their winter crop and hope that rain would follow, or hope that a rainstorm would moisten the ground enough to allow for planting.
Right now, most farmers are planting their crops and banking on a rainstorm. According to Squires, 53% of this year’s crop has already been planted, which is up from 42% at the same time last year.
Wade Troutman, a wheat farmer in North Douglas County near the Columbia River, referred to planting seeds in dry dirt as “dusting it in.”
“Basically you’re setting the seed in dry dirt, not too deep, and hope that you get some subsequent rains that will germinate and come up,” Troutman said. “You don’t want it to germinate and hit dry dirt below it.”
This type of planting creates stress for farmers as they wait for the rain to come.
“You like to seed into moisture, and seeding into nothing is like going on pure hope,” Troutman said.
A rainstorm last week produced enough water for moisture to seep three to four inches into the ground in some areas. However, Troutman said these types of storms can be deceiving.
“It’s not consistent with the landscape. There might be a spot here and a spot there where they got ample rain, but then you go two miles further and there was no rain,” Troutman said. “We haven’t had those rainstorms that give you a good soaking across the landscape.”
In the areas where there is only light rain, Troutman said a crust will form on top of the dirt, similar to a pie crust. The germinated crop in these areas kinks up under the dirt, unable to breakthrough.
“I think what everybody’s looking for that didn’t have moisture that sowed late is to see if that wheat is going to come up or if it is going to curl,” Troutman said.
An early summer heatwave is also still having an impact on ground conditions. Troutman said it will take time for the ground to fully recharge.
“A lot of our problems came from that 115-degree week, or whatever we had,” Troutman said. “We’re used to having 100-plus temperatures in August. But June? That was just a heartbreaker there.”
Troutman said moisture over the winter, and a melting snowpack next spring should help the ground heal.
“You never know what next June will bring, and that’s part of farming. You can’t predict the weather,” Troutman said. “If the weather’s favorable to us, we can make some money. And in years like this you know, we just tighten up the belt and suck it up until the weather changes.”
After farming wheat in Central Washington for more than 40 years, Troutman has watched as the climate goes through cycles. In this cycle, there will be three to four years of dry conditions and then several subsequent years of increased moisture.
“We whine and complain about our tractors getting stuck in the mud,” Troutman said. “But it’s a much better deal than just looking at dry dirt with no moisture.”